2005 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2005 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The showpiece event was contested between Liverpool of England and Milan of Italy at the Atatürk Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey on 25 May 2005. Liverpool, who had won the competition four times, were appearing in their sixth final, and their first since 1985. Milan, who had won the competition six times, were appearing in their second final in three years and tenth overall.
Each club needed to progress through the group stage and knockout rounds to reach the final, playing 12 matches in total. Liverpool finished second in their group behind 2004 runners-up AS Monaco and subsequently beat Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea to progress to the final. Milan won their group ahead of Barcelona and faced Manchester United, Internazionale and PSV Eindhoven before reaching the final.
Milan were regarded as favourites before the match and took the lead within the first minute through captain Paolo Maldini. Milan striker Hernán Crespo added two more goals before half-time to make it 3–0. In the second half Liverpool launched a comeback and scored three goals in a dramatic six-minute spell to level the scores at 3–3, with goals from Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso. The scores remained the same during extra time, and a penalty shoot-out was required to decide the champions. The score was 3–2 to Liverpool when Andriy Shevchenko's penalty was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek. Thus Liverpool won their fifth European Cup, were awarded the trophy permanently, and claimed a multiple-winner badge. Liverpool's comeback gave rise to the final being known as the Miracle of Istanbul, and is regarded as one of the finest moments of the club's history.
2007 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between A.C. Milan of Italy and Liverpool F.C. of England on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2006–07 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the UEFA Champions League. The teams were appearing in the final two years after facing each other in the 2005 final which Liverpool won 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match finished 3–3.
Both teams had to pass through five rounds before they reached the final. They both entered in the third qualifying round and won their respective groups before they reached the knockout stage, where matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. Milan's victories varied from close affairs to comfortable victories. They defeated Celtic by a single goal over two legs, while they beat Manchester United 5–3 on aggregate in the semi-final. Liverpool's matches were mainly all close affairs; they beat defending champions Barcelona on the away goals rule in the first knockout round and beat Chelsea in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals, although they did record a 4–0 aggregate win over PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals.
2017 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2017 UEFA Champions League Final will be the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. It will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on 3 June 2017.
The winners will earn the right to play against the winners of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League in the 2017 UEFA Super Cup. They will also qualify to enter the semi-finals of the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup as the UEFA representative.
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2003 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2003 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Italian teams: Juventus and Milan. The match made history as it was the first time two clubs from Italy had faced each other in the final. It was also the second intra-national final of the competition, following the all-Spanish 2000 UEFA Champions League Final three years earlier. Milan won the match via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time. It gave Milan their sixth success in the European Cup.
Background
Juventus went into the Champions League final as champions of Italy for the 27th time. Milan came fourth in the league, finishing with sixteen fewer points than Juventus, and had to qualify for the third qualifying round. ln the Serie A games between the two sides in the 2001–02 season, Milan drew 1–1 at San Siro under Carlo Ancelotti on 9 December 2001, while Juventus won 1–0 at Stadio delle Alpi on 14 April 2002 under Marcello Lippi. They also met in the Coppa Italia games, where Juventus won 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
